In the portrait of portrait lenses, it has become difficult to find a lens that combines high quality and reasonable price, but Viltrox offers a strong and sudden alternative with its new Viltrox AF 135M F1.8, which directly targets professional lenses, but at about half the price.
This lens seeks to gain the confidence of professional and amateur photographers alike, by providing a distinctive visual performance, solid design, and advanced features that make it look like a much higher category than its actual price, which is only $ 899.
Strong design and attention to details
The lens comes with a full metal body that gives it a feeling of durability and professionalism, which makes it suitable for hard use, especially in photographing occasions or external sessions, and its design is not only focused on hardness, but also includes practical elements such as a small screen to display focus information, and multiple control outlets, in addition to the presence of the USB-C port to update internal programs easily.
Hand control in the lens looks smooth and comfortable, which is not always available in this price category, and its internal packaging and providing a custom bag with it gives a general impression of attention from the factory with every small detail.
Optical performance comparable to the higher categories
On the visual level, the lens offers striking quality, especially in natural lighting conditions, the wide F/1.8 lens opening that allows a great insulation of the background, which makes it perfectly suitable for photographing faces or shots that require the depth of a narrow field.
Even when using the lens on the maximum opening, sharp results appear in the middle of the image, with a soft bouquet that gives a distinctive artistic touch, and after stopping to F/2.8 or more, the intensity improves in the corners, and the image becomes fully knocked without any significant deformities.
It is also noticeable that the lens is effectively dealt with glow and color deviations, which makes its results can be directly used without having a heavy modification after filming.
Automatic and hand focus experience
The lens depends on a double VCM concentration engine, which makes it fast to pick up the target when photographing modern cameras like Sony α7 IV, but it may be a little less efficient on APS-C cameras, although they are still working well.
The manual focus in the lens is carefully designed as the concentration ring provides accurate control, and it is easy for photographers to implement small modifications accurately, which matters to video shooting or when relying on creative manual concentration.
Is the lens suitable for everyone?
Viltrox AF 135M F1.8 is an ideal choice for portrait photography lovers, especially for those looking for an isolated background and a soft bouquet effect, while maintaining clear details of the basic element, and can also be relied upon to photograph products or video scenes that require severity and visual accuracy.
But the size and weight of the lens makes its use less comfortable for flights or daily mobile photography, and some video users may notice that automatic focus does not amount to idealism on some small cameras.
